Top 10 Local Stories of 2004

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, December 30, 2004

He left the safety and tranquility of his home and journeyed to an embattled country thousands of miles away to serve his country and protect the precious gift of freedom. On May 30, 2004, he paid the ultimate price for that freedom.

He is Sgt. Aaron Elandt, who died at the age of 23 when his Humvee van ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) in Al Musayyib, Iraq, south of Baghdad. He was a Cavalry Scout with the 1st Armored Division. A native of Port Hope, he was a 1999 Harbor Beach High School graduate.

Aaron joined the Army in 2000. He served at Camp Garry Owen in Korea and returned back to the U.S. shortly before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He then went to Fort Hood, Texas, where he served for just over a year. He was then assigned to Germany and after a few months, he was sent to Baghdad. He'd been there for a little more than one year.

He was deployed in the 1st Battalion 6th Infantry Scout Platoon of the 1st Armored Division.

Aaron's parents, Paul and Linda, organized an Aaron Elandt Memorial Scholarship in conjunction with the Huron County Community Foundation. The scholarship is for graduating students of Harbor Beach High School. The first scholarship will be awarded in 2005.

Linda said Aaron was a private person who enjoyed the simple things in life, including his friends, family, and music. She said his future plans included finishing college and starting a family of his own.

During the touching funeral service at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Rapson, the Elandt family was presented with the Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal in honor of Aaron's heroism while fighting the war in Iraq. The service was attended by many family, friends, community members, veterans, and active members of the armed forces.

Also this year, a new Bad Axe American Legion post was organized  Post No. 318  and named in honor of Aaron.

2. LMS Buys Sebewaing Tower Plant

Lapeer Metal Stamping breathed new economic life into Huron County when officials announced in September the company had purchased the former Tower Automotive plant in Sebewaing.

The Lapeer-based Tier-1 automotive supplier is expected to bring about 200 jobs into the county during the next few years. And Huron County needs those jobs badly, as is evidenced by the more than 900 people who applied to work at the plant during two days in October. At its employment peak, the former Tower facility housed more than 500 workers.

While LMS's employment projections might not top Tower's, Sebewaing's new business tenant brings welcome job growth in these continually hard economic times.

"This is a huge shot in the arm for the village of Sebewaing and the county as a whole," said Carl Osentoski, executive director for the Huron County Economic Development Corp., after the purchase became public. "Anytime you bring jobs into a community, you help to revitalize it … it is a big morale booster."

3. Wolverine in Huron County

A wolverine?

In the Wolverine State?

There had never been a documented wolverine sighting in Michigan. Ever!

That was until one late February day when John Boland III's coyote hunt turned into a hunt for history.

Boland, along with several other hunters from a group called the Thumb Area Coyote Hunters, were tracking fox and coyote around 9 a.m. in Huron County with the excited howls of hounds echoing through the brisk air. After hunters viewed several large tracks in the freshly fallen snow of the pursued animal, they were puzzled.

What could it be? It didn't look like fox or coyote tracks.

After a six-hour chase and pursuit, the animal decided to take a breather and climbed up a tree, allowing the hunters to get a more thorough examination of it.

How did it get here? One theory is that it may have drifted to the Thumb from Canada on an ice floe in Lake Huron. Another theory is it came over on a truck carrying Canadian trash, which is routinely dumped into a nearby landfill. It also could be an example of an escape or release into the wild from captivity.

The story made state and national headlines, even appearing on CNN.

After some debate, the DNR decided to leave the animal in the Thumb, though officials doubt it is still here.

4. Officials Break Ground on Water Project

Huron County residents thought for years that it would never happen. But, that all changed this August, when the dream became a reality and officials finally broke ground on a water system that will bring Lake Huron drinking water from Port Austin to Bad Axe.

Yes, with the creation of the Huron Regional Water Authority more than a year ago, construction on the more than $11.3 million water project began this fall.

And that's good enough to make No. 4 news in 2004.

As Huron County Commissioners Mike Gage noted as funding for the pipeline was secured in July, "It's a happy day for the county. I commend you people for your perseverance. You could have let it go but you didn't because you believed in the project. In my opinion this benefits the whole county."

We agree Mr. Gage, let the water flow.

5. USA Wins State Title

So-called experts thought they had a shot at being a pretty good football team.

Not many, though, figured they could go all the way.

But the Unionville-Sebewaing Area Patriots captured their second state football championship in six years, winning 14 consecutive games, capped by a thrilling 14-7 decision over Detroit St. Martin DePorres in the Division 7 title game.

After reeling off nine straight wins during the regular season, USA topped Memphis and Ubly in the playoffs to capture the district title. The Patriots then earned a hard-fought 36-17 victory over a pesky Fulton-Middleton squad to grab the regional title.

The following week, USA traveled to Gaylord and beat upstart Newberry, 16-6, earning their trip to the Silverdome.

DePorres had won 12 straight title games dating back to 1978. USA didn't care.

Behind the hard-nosed running of senior Lance Travis, and a stingy defense, USA stunned the perennial power, earning the respect of every high school football fan in the state.

USA coach Tim Travis was named Class C Coach of the Year. His son, Lance, earned Class C Player of the Year honors.